What's your best performing bullet on deer and hogs?

[jammer308]

Hey fellas, I'm still very green in muzzleloading but having a lot of fun learning. I got an encore .50 cal. and I'm still going through the motions of finding an accurate load. My worry is that with no experience killing deer with this gun, I might find an accurate load that's not really a good performer. I'd hate to go through all that powder and bullets and time to find the load doesn't work well in the field. So for the deer's sake, I want to know what your best performing bullets are in your encore's? I'm looking for pass through shots with good expansion, but not too much of either. Looking for guys who've killed a lot of deer with their encores, Thanks.    jammer

ps. Right now I have a handfull of 300gr shockwaves, a bunch of 250gr shockwaves, a bunch more of 240gr.  xtps and some 385 gr maxi hunters to try out. Using 110 gr of JSG loose powder, but not afraid to try anything else.

[Semisane]

Speer Gold Dots, either 250 or 300 grain.  They expand, yet hold together.  The 250s will usually give you a pass through, the 300 almost certainly will.

[jammer308]

Thanks semisane. I'm thinking the 300gr or heavier bullets are what I'm after, especially since hogs are in the mix. But deer are the main focus. Just curious to what everyone is actually getting reliable expansion with and how the bullets are holding up.

[coop2564]

285gr barnes spitfire will kill anything in North America and shoot flat doing it.

[moto357]

shut sum big conicals

[Semisane]

Here are some Speer 300 grain Gold Dots retrieved from the damp sandy loam behind the 100 yard target on my shooting range.  The load was 105 grains of FFF Triple 7 with a five shot average velocity (15 ft. from muzzle) of 1822 fps. 

[jammer308]

Well those look pretty good to me. Thanks for the pic.    I'll pick some up and see how they shoot along with the rest of what I have. Can you tell me what the trajectory is like with those?

 Anyone have problems with the 250 gr shockwaves expanding too little or too much? They seem to be inconsistant to me. 
 


 

[billy]

I have had good luck with 300 grain tc shockwaves.

[alsaqr]

Most of my hogs have been killed with the .430 240 grain XTP bullet.  Quite a few were killed with the 250 grain Shockwave/SST.  Over 90% of my hogs have been bang flops.   If you do your job those bullets will do their job.  Hogs are not that hard to kill if you know their anatomy and put the bullet in the right place. 

[jammer308]

Most of my hogs have been killed with the .430 240 grain XTP bullet.  Quite a few were killed with the 250 grain Shockwave/SST.  Over 90% of my hogs have been bang flops.   If you do your job those bullets will do their job.  Hogs are not that hard to kill if you know their anatomy and put the bullet in the right place. 

So what did either of these bullets look like, were any recovered? How big were hogs and where were they hit? What ranges? Which bullet do you prefer after seeing both at work? Also curious what sabot you like with both of them?  I know, so many questions.   Thanks.

[alsaqr]

So what did either of these bullets look like, were any recovered?

Some were pass throughs, some were not:  Few were ever recovered.  I take the hogs to a butcher shop.  The 250 grain SST was recovered from the sow shot at 192 yards.  It broke two ribs going in and mushroomed well.  That bullet had to be going pretty slow at 192 yards because the charge was only 90 grains of JSG. 

How big were hogs and where were they hit?

They ranged from 50 pounds to one huge feral sow that pegged the 350 pound scales field dressed.  That sow was an American Landrace breed.  I like to shoot them low behind the shoulder.  Sometimes I will do a shoulder shot,  usually a high one. 

What Ranges?

15 feet to a measured 192 yards. 

Which bullet do you prefer after seeing both at work?

Both bullets have worked very well for me.  The 240 grain XTP bullets are fired from a CVA gun and the SST/Shockwaves are fired from my Encore. 

Also curious what sabot you like with both of them?

 

For the 240 grain .430 bullet I use the black sabot that is no longer available.  The green Harvester sabots also work well with the .430 bullets.  The 250 grain SST/Shockwave is used in the tight fitting black or red sabots.  Am starting to use the Hornady three petal Low Drag sabots-they load a lot easier and the accuracy is acceptable. 

[Mack in N.C.]

i like either the 350 gr maxi hunter or 370 gr maxi ball.......they never go more than a few steps.....mack

[Skillet]

The only slugs I have much experience with are bore-sized conicals. I shoot a home-cast .45 TC Maxi in a CVA "Kentucky" kit-gun. I load it over 66 gns of loose Pyro 'P' for abt 1580 fps as clocked at abt 12 ft. from the muzzle. Mold throws at around 250 gns.

Chews cloverleafs at 50 yds.

Count so far is 5 whitetail, 3 mule deer, 2 hogs, one javelina, 2 turkeys and one corn-stealing squirrel. Always leaves two holes and breaks 'em down pretty quick.

I did take a javelina with a .40 200 gn saboted xtp HP out of another .45 cal sidelock and expansion was terrific, but this was a lighter load. I hesitate to drive pistol-bullets at extremely high velocities as the jackets are thinner and pistol bullets are designed to expand at a lower velocity than rifle slugs.

My maxi-balls don't seem to expand much, but they almost always exit and leave a nice blood trail if the animal doesn't drop on the spot.
Skillet]

[jammer308]

Thanks for the info skillet. To clarify, you are using the maxi-ball or maxi hunter?

You too alsaqr, and everyone else. I'm still listening if anyone else has anything to add. 

[Skillet]

"The only slugs I have much experience with are bore-sized conicals. I shoot a home-cast .45 TC Maxi in a CVA "Kentucky" kit-gun. I load it over 66 gns of loose Pyro 'P' for abt 1580 fps as clocked at abt 12 ft. from the muzzle. Mold throws at around 250 gns."

These are the old-design Maxi-Balls, not the Hunters...
Skillet